Mafia II is a third-person shooter, and is the sequel to Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven. The game is developed by 2K Czech, previously known as Illusion Softworks, and published by 2K Games. Development of Mafia II was announced on August 21, 2007 at the Leipzig Games Convention. The game is set in the 1940's and 1950's in Empire Bay, a fictional city that is based on New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco. The name is a reference to New York's state nickname "The Empire State". Mafia II is available for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The game was released to North America on August 24, 2010, and to Europe on August 27, 2010. The Mac OS X version of Mafia II: Director's Cut was pulished by Feral Interactive and released on December 1, 2011.[3]

The game experience of Mafia II involves realistic controls featuring a standard action and violent action button, as well as context sensitive situations. The game introduces a cover mechanic not seen in the game's predecessor which allows the player to hide behind objects while in a shootout. There are over 70 highly detailed vehicles - including sports cars, city buses, tractor trailers, station wagons, and more. The game also introduces new weapons, like the MG42, and includes a few from the original game, such as the Colt M1911A1 and the Thompson 1928. Empire Bay's radio stations complete the experience with a wide variety of popular music from the 1940s and 1950s.

The story begins with the player character Vito returning home from World War II. Vito had joined the U.S. military as a way of avoiding jail time for a botched robbery. Vito reunites with his old friend, Joe Barbaro, and the two quickly embark upon a life of crime. Their criminal ascension starts with Mike Bruski, a car mechanic who gets in a conflict with Joe. Mike also needs a certain type of car to chop for parts, and will pay $400 for one that the police are not tailing. Soon enough, Vito, Joe, and Henry Tomasino (already a made man) find themselves battling with, for, against, and around three crime factions: the Falcone, Vinci and Clemente families.

The game contains around two hours of in-game cutscenes. The original game, Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven, had a screenplay of 400 pages, as opposed to the 700 pages of the sequel. Daniel Vávra, the writer and director of the original and the sequel, discussed the new angle of the game stating: "The old game was a tribute to gangster movies, a romantic vision. Mafia II is grittier, real, a darker world, and the effects are based in reality." The Official Playstation Magazine states: "A high body count is still promised in this tale set in a fictional city inspired by New York of the 1940s and '50s, but those casualties will come the hard way -- through small-scale operations rather than mass firefights." However, this is odd since most of the missions involve killing a very large number of enemies.

Plot

Vito Scaletta was born in Sicily in 1925 to an extremely poor family. His father decides that it is time to move away, and he arranges for his family to immigrate to the Empire Bay area in America, (specifically Little Italy), where they arrive in the early spring of 1931. As fate would have it, the family would end up even worse off in their new home than they had been in Sicily. His father gets a small-time job at the dockyards, eventually turning to alcohol as a release. As he gets older, Vito gets involved with a local criminal named Joe Barbaro, who has been his best friend from a young age, and they form a partnership. In 1943, his father drowns on the dockyards during his shift, and left his family struggling for money. With no options left, Vito turns to crime along with Joe.

After a failed robbery of a jewelry store, Vito is arrested and given the choice of joining the army or going to prison. Vito chose the army and he ends up in the 504th Parachute Infantry as a paratrooper. He is dispatched to Sicily on July 1943 in Operation Husky and helps liberate citizens in a small village rebelling against the fascists, but the rest of his squad is killed in the process. He defends the town square from several Italian soldiers with an MG-42 on the balcony, but a tank almost kills him. Just then, Don Calo, head of the Sicilian Mafia, arrives on the tank with the US Army, offering the rest of the Italian soldiers freedom if they surrender. After this, Vito is transported through the rest of Italy and arrives to Normandy, where he is shot in late August 1944. He spends the next few months in a hospital and gets a leave for two months to go back home.

Vito returns to Empire Bay in February 1945, with Joe waiting for his arrival. The two talked to each other about the war and went for a drink at Freddy's Bar. Joe hears about Vito's situation, makes a call and tells him to stop by tomorrow. At home, Vito learns from his sister about their father owing $2000 from a loan shark. He meets Joe, who took him to Giuseppe, a safe-cracker, and Mike Bruski, who owned a junkyard. Vito and Joe then made a series of small-time jobs, while his mother recommended him to work for Derek Pappalardo, a corrupt dock owner and capo for the Vinci family, along with his henchman Steve.

Joe later introduces Vito to Henry Tomasino, a soldato for Don Alberto Clemente. Henry instructs Vito to steal ration stamps from the Office of Price Administration. The heist went as planned but the stamps are due to expire the next day and Vito was ordered to resell them to all gas stations. Vito and Joe also robbed a jewelry store, to which they encounter Brian O'Neill and his crew. The two managed to escape from the police while Brian and his gang were arrested and imprisoned. Under the orders of Luca Gurino, Clemente's capo, Vito, Joe, and Henry assassinate Sidney Pen, who started a distillery without giving Clemente his cut. Vito was instructed to order an MG42 machine gun to be used for the ambush. A firefight ensued, but Henry was shot by Penn in the leg, prompting Vito and Joe to take him to a local mob doctor. Henry gives Vito $2000 for the successful job, and he takes it to his sister to repay their father's debt.

Vito was later arrested for his involvement in the OPA heist. He was placed on trial, but was eventually sentenced to ten years imprisonment. While in prison, he finds O'Neill, who beats him up in revenge for being jailed. Vito meets Leo Galante, a consigliere for the Vinci family. Due to his good standing against O'Neill, he adopts Vito as part of his group in order to help out training his best fighter to a fight with O'Neill. In the meantime, Vito is designated to participate in a couple of fights with other inmates. Leo asks Vito to beat O'Neill as a revenge for having his best fighter ambushed and badly beaten before the great fight with O'Neill. Vito ends up killing O'Neill with his own knife during the fight. Vito encountered harsh conditions in prison, even going to solitary confinement twice, and came to the point of depression when he found out about his mother's death. Leo arranges for Vito to stay in his comfortable cell during the rest of his time in prison. Vito eventually learns that Clemente tried to cheat on him and Joe by requesting payment to get into his family and he also learns about the inner workings of the American Mafia. After Leo leaves the prison, he influenced the parole board to release Vito earlier than scheduled. With his sentence shortened, Vito was finally released from prison in 1951.

Once out, Vito meets up with Joe, who now works for Eddie Scarpa, underboss for Don Carlo Falcone. Joe and Eddie then treated Vito to the local brothel. Scarpa later remembers that he needs to drop the body of Frankie Potts, an undercover agent who attempted to investigate on the Falcones. Eddie later ordered Vito and Joe to sell cigarettes. The stint was successful, only to have the merchandise burned by the a band of greasers. This angered Eddie, who ordered Vito and Joe to get him his money back, which they did by killing the greasers in their own hangout and selling the gang's hot rods to Derek. A month later, Vito was dispatched to investigate on the whereabouts of Falcone's accountant Harvey Beans and his two bodyguards, who were later found to be kidnapped by Luca and his men. Vito infiltrates the slaughterhouse, and fights his way after rescuing Epstein and his surviving bodyguard Tony Balls. Vito and Tony later confronted Luca, who was tortured (and later killed) by Tony, as Vito leaves. Vito and Joe eventually become made and are brought into the Falcone family at the Maltese Falcon restaurant, in front of Carlo Falcone, Frank Vinci and a few other key Mafia figures.

Now mobsters, Vito and Joe enjoyed a life of luxury. Vito also managed to get his own house in an upscale suburban neighborhood, happy with his newfound wealth. Two weeks later, Carlo and Eddie ordered Vito and Joe to assassinate Clemente. Joe plotted to use a bomb on the Empire Arms Hotel where Clemente is holding a family meeting, along with the help of young Marty as the getaway driver. The plan backfires, with Clemente surviving the explosion. Vito and Joe shoot their way through the hotel until after a lengthy chase, Joe empties his Thompson 1928 into Clemente in revenge for killing Marty at the hotel parking lot. Soon after, Vito is approached by Henry, who wished to join the Falcone family due to the demise of Clemente. Vito recommends Henry to Eddie, who told that Vinci was planning to make a move on them. Eddie orders Henry to kill Leo, much to Vito's dismay. The latter then raced to Leo's mansion - depending on the player's actions, Vito and Leo can either escape without Henry noticing them, or be found by him, only to be spared in exchange for Leo leaving from Empire Bay as a result. Vito arrives to his home to see his sister crying about her experience with her abusive husband. Vito then confronted him in his friend's apartment, and forces him to be good to his wife, or face death. His sister was horrified upon learning about the brawl and disowned his brother, severing all ties to him. Vito later woke up to find his house being torched by Mickey Desmond, O'Neill's cousin. Vito then turns to Joe, who helps him retaliate against Desmond's gang. They later settled on having Vito stay at Marty's apartment for the time being.

Henry hears about Vito's situation, and the trio meet at Lincoln Park, planning on a potential heroin-trafficking business. At first Vito was hesitant, but he agrees to it. Using money borrowed from a loan shark named Bruno, they bought their merchandise from the Triads, later to be ambushed by gangsters disguised as police officers. They made over a hundred thousand dollars from their drug deal, but Falcone found about the deal and asked for his share of the profits. Henry asks Vito to further talk about this at Lincoln Park but upon Vito and Joe's arrival, the two find Henry butchered alive by Triad members. The two then stormed a Chinese restaurant, which was used as a front for their illicit businesses, killing the one who sold them the heroin in the process.

The duo realized that they caused a conflict between the Triads and the Mafia families, with both sides accusing each other, and about the possibility that Henry was working with the federal government. They later took various jobs, one of which was killing Thomas Angelo, who turned pentito against the Salieri family in the first game. Vito also finds out about the truth behind the death of his father, killing Derek and Steve for doing so and taking Derek's money with him. He later finds out that Joe was taken by Vinci's men, and ended up at the construction site along with him, badly beaten. The two managed to escape from the building, and with Vito taking Joe to El Greco along with half of the money earned, to be paid to Bruno. It is then revealed that it was Bruno who lent the money to Vito's father, much to his anger.

Eddie calls Vito the next day, telling him to meet up with Falcone at the observatory. Vito leaves, but was interrupted by Leo in his limousine, who rudely ordered him to get in. Leo then angrily berated Vito for all the trouble he caused, and, with Mr. Chu, the Triad boss, told Vito that everyone wanted him dead. Leo gives Vito a chance for redemption by killing Falcone. Vito then went to the observatory as planned, and ended up in a gunfight throughout the building before he reaches Falcone, who taunts him for his actions, and Joe pointing a gun at Vito. Carlo orders Joe to shoot, but Joe hesitates, citing his friendship with his childhood friend, joining Vito as they battle the remaining thugs until they gun down Carlo. A mortally wounded Carlo crawls down on the floor as Vito guns him down four more times, lamenting about what he did over the years. Vito and Joe emerged from the observatory, with Leo awaiting their arrival. Vito boarded Leo's limo, as the latter wanted to have a talk with him. Joe rides with two of Leo's bodyguards in another car, which suddenly turned away at an intersection, and Leo softly tells Vito that Joe wasn't a part of the offer. Hearing this, Vito looks at himself in sorrow, realizing that Joe was the biggest price he paid for his path: the Mafia. The final shot of the game is a view of the city and the somber rainy weather before the credits roll.

Development

Work began on Mafia II's script in 2003, with pre-production following in 2004. The game was originally intended for a 2005 release on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox running on a licensed game engine, however, the developer of the engine went under, thus forcing 2K Czech (then Illusion Softworks) to build it's own game engine and ultimately move the game's development to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A playable version of the game was achieved sometime around 2007 or 2008.

Trailers

A promotional trailer was released for the game in August 2007. The first scene occurs in a low-key restaurant where Clemente CaporegimeLuca, is having dinner with Henry, Joe and Vito. After some small talk, Luca asks Vito if he is against killing animals, specifically "human animals." Then follows a montage of clips from the game's cutscenes and gameplay. The next scene takes place in a warehouse. Sidney Pen aka The Fat Man is crawling on the floor, begging for his life. Henry fires his gun at the Fat Man and the scene ends. The last scene is an obvious reference to the film Goodfellas; the three gangsters (Joe, Vito and Eddie) are in a car, driving to a suitable place to dispose of a body. The song "Oh Marie" by Louis Prima is featured in the trailer.

A second trailer was released on the Spike VGA show on December 14, 2008. The first part of the trailer occurs in one of Empire city's churches and features Vito with his mother. It is followed by a montage of gameplay and cutscenes that feature scenes of Vito being welcomed by Joe and parts of several shoot-outs and pursuits. The song "Long Tall Sally" by Little Richard is featured in the trailer.

An extended, high definition version of the trailer was released on January 15, 2009 with an extra 30 seconds of cutscene footage. In this new footage, Vito is shown leaving the church alongside his mother; who he drops off in a taxi. Then, a car carrying Henry, Joe, and Eddie pick up Vito and they drive off, laughing. The game was released on August 24th, 2010 in North America.

On March 27, 2010, a new trailer was released showcasing the PhysX-based cloth and physics system used in the game.

Downloadable content

On May 26, 2010, four downloadable packs were originally offered as pre-order bonus, each one available with two exclusive outfits and vehicles, but are now available for purchase in the PSN Store and Xbox Live Market for $2.99 or 240 Microsoft points each.

Made Man Pack: Free access to in-game downloadable pack that lets players get behind the wheel of two different luxury automobiles modeled after cars from the period. In addition, Vito gets two new “made man” suits, including a vintage tux.

Hardcover Art Book: A 100-page photo album-style art book that explains the artistic design process of the game.

PlayStation 3 version

On June 15, 2010 Sony announced at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 that owners of the PlayStation 3 version of the game will be able to download the free DLC upon release, named The Betrayal of Jimmy. The second DLC, Jimmy's Vendetta, will be available for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 shortly after release.

Multiplayer

There was going to be a Multiplayer component for the game, however it was scrapped.

Demo

Main article: Mafia II Demo
A timed demo for the game was released on August 10, 2010. The official description for the demo is as follows:

Vito has started to make a name for himself on the streets of Empire Bay, someone who can be trusted to get a job done. In this hot leaded playable demo, you and Joe get one of your first serious assignments, to deal with a chump that isn't playing ball the way the Mob likes it. Make a Man of yourself in Mafia II.

Originally the game was to include four alternative endings, although only one was kept and the other three were scrapped as the makers of the game preferred that ending. In the soundtrack, music named "Alternative Ending" is included. It's unknown what was to occur in that ending the music was meant to go with.

The game was originally meant to have 22 chapters and take place from 1946 to 1957, almost ten years of Vito's life. This was stated in a demo released in 2009. The final released version of the game has 15 chapters and takes place from 1943 to 1951, 8 years of Vito's life.